Give Local York Business Fundraiser's Toolkit

The support of local businesses and the amplification of their support via their employees and their customers is critical to the success of Give Local York! Not only does your participation help ensure a successful day of fundraising for our nonprofits, but your dedication to their important work will be recognized throughout York County. For the Give Local York, we're offering your business an opportunity to engage your employees and customers to donate to causes they're passionate about, and in turn, bring invaluable visibility to your business.

How can I be successful in spreading philanthropy to my employees and customers? Check out the Business Toolkit below for ideas on running a successful fundraiser. We've supplied marketing resources, communication templates, and ideas around incentives and celebrations to really engage your employees and customers in giving, and how they can further spread your message to their networks.

Want to see who else is involved in the York County community? Find your favorite participating nonprofits here, and participating businesses here.

Interested in learning more about Give Local York and the value to your business? Contact kate@givelocalyork.org.

How do I run a successful fundraiser for my business?

The number one recommendation for running a successful fundraiser for Give Local York is that you are truly celebrating and encouraging the act of philanthropy - big and small! Here are some tips, tricks, and ideas on how to encourage you employees and your customers to rally around philanthropy, and the single largest fundraiser in the York County community!

Share the Give Local York site with your employees and encourage them to find a nonprofit or two that speaks to the causes they care about! You can share givelocalyork.org with customers on your receipt, or hand out info cards with each purchase with your and Give Local York information on it (check out some great graphics to use, here). With so many participating nonprofits, there's a nonprofit or cause for everyone!

Your business fundraiser page can report on employee participation rates, number of donors, and dollars raised! Pick a stat and set a goal and share that out. Throughout the day (on May 3rd), share the progress with your employees and customers and celebrate those milestones. You can also offer incentives to employees and customers as your hit those milestones! See some ideas below.

Decide if your business will offer a match to all employees or customers gifts, or to a specific nonprofit. We've found matching gifts can amplify giving by 3 or 4 times!

Communicate your participation in Give Local York through email messages, social media posts, and word of mouth.

What incentives can I offer or celebrations can I plan to my employees or customers?

As you hit your giving day milestones or to just celebrate the giving spirit of Give Local York, plan some fun and excitement in at your business or office on May 3rd. We have some ideas below, but the sky's the limit in how you can engage your employees and customers, and encourage philanthropy on Give Local York!

Employee Incentives

Encourage your employees to participate in Give Local York by offering these incentives:
  • Food: Cater a snack break, host a pot luck, or a dessert party to celebrate giving
  • Attire: Have a casual dress day so employees can dress to represent the agency or cause they care about
  • Advertise: Pass out “I Gave” stickers to employees who gave to celebrate the causes they care about
  • Competition: Have a competition between departments to see who can raise the most and offer a prize

Customer Incentives

Encourage your customer to participate in Give Local York by offering these incentives:
  • Discounts: If you have a store front, offer a percentage off of an item if they can show they gave (Give Local York sends out a receipt to each donor for easy access on their phone!).
  • Raffle: Offer a raffle, and every time a donor gives if as entry into the raffle.
  • Happy Hour: Host a happy hour and invite local nonprofits and your customers to meet and mingle!

Celebrations

Encourage your employees or customers to participate in the many events happening around the York County community! You can see a full listing of events here. You can also host your own event to encourage participation in Give Local York!

Sample Communications

Use some of these sample communications below to start spreading the word about your business's involvement in Give Local York. When sharing on social media, make sure you're always using the official hashtag, #GiveLocalYork to be included in the conversation!

Facebook and Twitter

Facebook is the most popular form of social media to share about participation in giving day - so make sure you're using it leading up to and on May 3rd! You can use Facebook to share with employees and your customers how you're participating in Give Local York and amplifying the giving efforts.

  • Announce your participation: We are excited to announce our participating in #GiveLocalYork on May 3rd! Find out why we're participating on our page here: [YOUR BUSINESS LINK] and mark your calendars for May 3rd to give to your favorite nonprofit!
  • If you're offering a match: Today, our business is focused on improving on community by matching all our employees' gifts made to nonprofits through #GiveLocalYork! There are over [X] number of nonprofits participating to improve the lives of our community members. Find your cause and give today, May 3rd, at givelocalyork.org.
  • If you're offering an incentive to employees or customers: [Business name] is supporting #GiveLocalYork on May 3rd and offering a gift basket to any customer that gives today. Stop on in today after you give through givelocalyork.org and show us your receipt to be eligible!
  • Celebrate the success you achieved for the day: Wow. We are in awe of the amazing employees and customers we have. Collectively, we were able to raise $X with X donors for the nonprofits participating in #GiveLocalYork. We couldn't do this without all of you, and your amazing support of our community and the nonprofits you all chose to give to on Give Local York. Thank you.

Instagram

Share pictures of your business, employees, and customers participating in Give Local York on Instagram. If your having a dress down day in the office, offering a raffle, or hosting (or encouraging attendance at) an event, share all of these events on Instagram! Make sure you're using the hashtag so people can keep up: #GiveLocalYork!

Emails

Social media is a great tool for spreading the word to people that follow you on social media, however, there is no substitute for a direct, targeted email to your employees, customers, or even personal network. Consider sending emails that correspond to your social media activity, as well as direct targeted asks. Here is a sample email to get you thinking on how you want to spread the word!

Subject: Help us support the nonprofits who make this community great! Join [BUSINESS NAME] for #GiveLocalYork


Dear [employees/customers/person],

On May 3rd businesses and individuals across our York County community will come together to support our local nonprofits during Give Local York. We are so excited to be part of this exciting giving event as a business fundraiser to show everyone in the community how philanthropic our employees and customers are.

Haven’t heard about Give Local York? It is York County's 24-hour giving day supporting the nonprofit agencies who help make our community such a great place to live! [Stats about previous year results]. You can head to givelocalyork.org now to learn more about this amazing giving event.

[IF OFFERING MATCH]: Your donations to local nonprofits at givelocalyork.org will be amplified because we are offering bonus dollars as an incentive to give. [Describe program here i.e. dollar for dollar, up to a certain amount, lump sum to reach goal etc.]

There are so many ways to participate - spread the word about this amazing event, become a fundraiser for your favorite nonprofit, donate on May 3rd. Make supporting your favorite cause unique to you!

To make sure your gift [is matched / is counted in our business's totals], follow these steps:

  1. Find your favorite nonprofit! Visit givelocalyork.org to search hundreds of participating nonprofits in our community.
  2. Commit to a nonprofit. You can start donating as soon as the site opens on May 3rd. Remember to select [Business Name] at checkout!
  3. Spread the word! Let your network know about Give Local York and who you are supporting. Use the hashtag #GiveLocalYork to be part of the conversation.

For questions about Give Local York and how you can get involved please visit givelocalyork.org or contact [Business Name].

Regards,
[Business Contact]